<DIV>
<DIV>=================================================<BR>CALL FOR PAPERS [Please forward as appropriate.]<BR>=================================================</DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>First International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies </DIV>
<DIV>and Development (ICTD2006)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>May 25-26, 2006<BR>Berkeley, California, U.S.A. <BR><A href="http://sims.berkeley.edu/ictd2006">http://sims.berkeley.edu/ictd2006</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The past decade has witnessed an explosion in projects that apply information and </DIV>
<DIV>communication technologies (ICT) to support socio-economic development. </DIV>
<DIV>Every sector is involved governments, academia, small start-ups, large </DIV>
<DIV>corporations, inter-governmental organizations, and non-profits and non-</DIV>
<DIV>governmental organizations. In spite of the tremendous energy and resources </DIV>
<DIV>behind these projects, scientifically sound research in this space is just beginning to </DIV>
<DIV>emerge. What is the actual impact of ICT projects? What novel technology is </DIV>
<DIV>required to meet development needs? What methodologies lead to success or </DIV>
<DIV>failure of a project? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The goal of the ICTD conference is to provide a forum for academic researchers </DIV>
<DIV>working with ICT applied to development. The conference will be scientifically </DIV>
<DIV>rigorous and multi-disciplinary papers reporting high-quality original research are </DIV>
<DIV>solicited. Submitted papers will be subjected to double-blind peer review, and a full </DIV>
<DIV>proceedings will be published at the time of the conference. (Best papers, as
<DIV>selected by a subset of the program committee, will be published in a special </DIV>
<DIV>edition of the journal, Information Technologies and International Development.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The conference will bring together researchers in both the social and technical sciences, with anticipated representation from anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, </DIV></DIV>
<DIV>computer science, electrical engineering, industrial design, and so on. We expect </DIV>
<DIV>this to be the first of an ongoing series of conferences to occur every one or two </DIV>
<DIV>years, and moving from country to country. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>For the purposes of this conference, the term ICT will comprise computing </DIV>
<DIV>devices (e.g., PCs, PDAs, sensor networks), technologies for voice and data </DIV>
<DIV>connectivity, the Internet, and related technologies. Application domains include, </DIV>
<DIV>but are not restricted to, education, agriculture, healthcare, poverty alleviation, </DIV>
<DIV>general communication, and governance. Papers considering novel design, new </DIV>
<DIV>technology, project assessment, policy impact, content, social issues around ICT </DIV>
<DIV>for development, and so forth will be considered. Well-presented negative results </DIV>
<DIV>from which generalizable conclusions can be drawn are also sought. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Important Dates (exact dates to be updated on website):</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>* Deadline for abstracts and intent to submit: October 21, 2005<BR>* Deadline for full paper submissions: December, 2005<BR>* Notification to authors: January, 2006<BR>* Deadline for camera-ready copy: March, 2006<BR>* Conference dates: May 25-26, 2006</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Only original, unpublished papers in English will be considered. Reviews will be double blind. Abstracts will facilitate the review process, and should be 200-400 words in length. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>For further information, please see the conference website at <A href="http://sims.berkeley.edu/ictd2006">http://sims.berkeley.edu/ictd2006</A>. Inquiries should be sent to <A href="mailto:ictd2006@yahoo.com">ictd2006@yahoo.com</A>. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Organizers:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Honorary Chairs: VS Arunachalam (Tamil Nadu Planning Commission) and Ken </DIV>
<DIV>Keniston (MIT) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chairs: Raj Reddy (CMU) and AnnaLee Saxenian (UC Berkeley)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Organizing Committee: Joyojeet Pal (UC Berkeley), Balaji Parthasarathy (IIIT-</DIV>
<DIV>Bangalore), Rahul Tongia (CMU), Kentaro Toyama (MSR India)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sponsors: MSR India, SIMS UC Berkeley. We are seeking additional sponsors, primarily for travel grants.<BR></DIV><p>
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